System and a method for organizing real-world group gatherings around a topic of interest

ABSTRACT

A computer-assisted method, computer system, and program product provide the functionality of a portal for persons to find, based on a topic of interest, the nearest relevant in-person gathering of other persons interested in the topic as well. The system provides for the automated creation of groups and for their automatic sustainment through automatic scheduling of periodic gatherings. Strangers in geographic proximity are automatically brought together into chapters formed around the topic of interest. Chapters may be led by organizers, and gatherings may have hosts. Automatic functions for venue selection, venue voting, cancellation, and feedback are provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/710,055, filed Jun. 15, 2004, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/478,345, entitled ‘AutomatedSystem and Method for Organizing Multiple Real-World Gatherings around aTopic of Interest, through a Single Point of Entry,’ filed on Jun. 16,2003, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

A system and a method consistent with the present invention broadlyrelates to organizing real-world gatherings. More particularly, thepresent invention is consistent with providing an automated,computer-assisted system and a method for organizing a real-worldgathering for a particular topic of interest.

Description of the Related Art

The Internet now is one of the most popular sources for obtaining andsharing information. One popular activity associated with the Internetis communication between people, and notably people who may be separatedby vast distances. Some familiar technologies that facilitatecommunication and involve the Internet include email, bulletin boards,virtual chat rooms, blogs, and instant message systems. This set oftechnologies, and those that are similar, are characterized by beingsubstantially solely on-line.

In other words, the foregoing set of well-known Internet relatedapplications support geographically distributed communications, and donot have as their objective anything more.

In spite of the increased ability to communicate on-line, however, manypeople still are interested in meeting together in person with otherpeople who are interested in the same topic. What is needed is a way toharness the formidable communications capabilities of the Internet tohelp support and facilitate such in-person topic-related gatherings(herein, ‘gatherings’ and ‘meetings’ shall be interchangeably used, andshall unless otherwise noted refer to in-person gatherings).

The challenges of organizing real-world gatherings are much differentfrom those of organizing online meetings. For example, to engage inonline chat, there is no question of physical location, distance fromhome, availability of venue, or the like. All of the foregoingconsiderations and more, including intangibles such as social dynamics,make organizing real-world gatherings a more difficult and complex task.

Known Internet communication tools are insufficient for the task. Inparticular, email alone is inadequate because a person in one area hasno organized way of approaching the problem of finding the identitiesand addresses of others in his area who are interested in a given topicand also interested in a topic-related meeting. Instant messaging andchat rooms alone are likewise inadequate for the same reasons.

Message boards and blogs are insufficient by themselves because thesetools are not designed to allow a person to begin with a topic ofinterest, find an associated message board or blog that is relevant tothe topic, and identify participants of the board or blog who are in aperson's area and who are interested in an in-person topic-relatedmeeting.

Internet dating and introduction services are related to the idea ofin-person meetings, but only on a one-to-one model, and all of theseservices are agnostic with respect to a particular topic of interest;instead, such services focus on compatibility with the idea of forming arelationship and not on meeting in a group setting to discuss a giventopic of mutual interest. In effect, these services facilitate onlyone-off (non-recurring) gatherings in only a single geographical locale.

Internet newsgroups are topic related, but provide no support to aperson who wants to attend a topic-related meeting in person in his owngeographic area.

Additionally, so-called ‘social networking’ services, such asSixDegrees, provide a system for users to be introduced to friends offriends via website communication and/or email, but again provide nosupport to a person who wants to attend a topic-related gathering inperson in a selected geographic area.

Internet invitation services likewise are inadequate to fulfill theabove-identified need. Such services, of which Evite is an example,allow users to enter the email addresses of invitees to private events.Automated invitations are sent by the service, and each invitee mayaccept or decline the invitation. Separately, users may browse or searchthe Evite website directory of public events, but all the events areone-off, non-recurring events, and all the events must be submitted byindividual users choosing to publicize already existing events. It isimpossible for persons who are not already acquainted to use the systemto self-organize into groups, and to attend topic-related in-persongatherings with others in a given locale. Evite thus does not provide anautomated method for strangers with a common interest to self-organizeinto real-world, local groups.

General information postings, such as ads or articles in print media andsigns posted around town, are well known. This approach starts with ameeting at a date and time certain, and then advertises the meeting.Posting such notices in common locations such as a town square orpopular bulletin board is now possible online as well. One such exampleof this approach is a ‘craigslist’ type website (see, e.g.,dc.craigslist.com), where people wishing to advertise meetings caneasily make such a posting. Such posting approaches, however, arelimited in that they begin with a predetermined meeting location, date,and time, and require a group already to be formed. No self-formation ofgroups takes place, and the location of the posted meeting cannot bedetermined by those Interested in attending. Furthermore, the postedevents are typically one-off, non-recurring events. Any group continuitydepends on the efforts of the person doing the posting, and no supportalong these lines is provided by the website.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the invention, among other objectives which will becomeapparent from reading the description herein, is to provide an automatedsystem to overcome the above-mentioned problems by facilitating localin-person gatherings of people brought together by a common interest.

One embodiment of the invention is a fully automated system in which thefacilitation of such meetings does not include a person being designatedas a group leader. Another embodiment of the invention provides for agroup leader. In the description below, the invention will be taughtfirst according to the leaderless embodiment, and afterward according toan embodiment that includes the concept of a group leader. Alternativeembodiments will be presented as part of the discussion.

The below-described illustrative, non-limiting embodiments of thepresent invention overcome the above disadvantages and problems in theprior art, and also may provide solutions to other disadvantages andproblems that were not described above. Also, a system that operatesaccording to the teachings of the present invention is not necessarilyrequired to overcome any of the particular problems or disadvantagesdescribed above. The appended claims should be consulted to ascertainthe true scope of the invention.

It is an aspect of the present invention to provide a system and amethod consistent with facilitating the creation, organizing,scheduling, and joining of in-person (also referred to as ‘real-world’)group gatherings around a topic of interest.

It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a system and amethod consistent with organizing real-world gatherings on the same dayin multiple localities for a particular topic of interest.

It is yet another aspect of the present invention to provide a systemand a method consistent with facilitating voting by prospectiveparticipants on a venue for the real-world gathering for the topic ofinterest in a particular locale.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a computer-assistedsystem and a method is provided for organizing gatherings. Gatheringsmay be periodic. They may be characterized as having a predeterminedminimum number of participants. A given gathering may occur at aphysical location determined by consensus or voting.

The method is topic-focused, and involves selecting a topic of interest,and also includes indicating a geographical area for one or more of theperiodic gatherings. Furthermore, the method may involve selecting aphysical location from a predetermined set of available physicallocations within the indicated geographical area. The selection of thephysical location may be based on one or more characteristics of theselected topic of interest.

Once the physical location is selected, each participant or potentialparticipant may be notified of the next gathering and of the selectedphysical location. A request for a response/reservation may be sent. Thenumber of reservations may be counted or otherwise determined, and whentoo few reservations are made, the system may cancel the next gatheringand notify the participants of the cancellation.

Moreover, according to another embodiment of the present invention, thecomputer-assisted system and method further includes receiving andstoring a location associated with a particular participant, andretrieving and providing the particular participant with a number ofpotential venues for having a gathering based on the identified topic ofinterest, according to the received location. The method according tothis embodiment further includes voting on a preferred venue chosen froma number of potential venues and storing the results.

The system may then determine one or more actual venues based on theresults from all the common participants who provided related locationsand whether a minimum number of common participants exist by comparing anumber of confirmed attendees with a threshold value. When at least theminimum number of common participants exists, a gathering on theidentified topic of interest is scheduled to occur at the determined oneor more actual venues. Once the gatherings are scheduled, the commonparticipants are notified.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above aspects and other advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent when taken in conjunction with the belowdescriptions of various illustrative, non-limiting embodiments thereofwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a specific embodiment of a highest level of a hierarchicalarrangement of topics according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a specific example of a second-highest level of ahierarchical arrangement of topics according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary flow diagram for a part of the processingaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary flow diagram of another part of the processingaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will now be described in detail by describingvarious illustrative, non-limiting embodiments thereof with reference tothe accompanying drawings. The invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as being limited to theillustrative embodiments set forth herein. Rather, the embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and willfully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art.The claims should be consulted to ascertain the true scope of theinvention.

This Illustrative, non-limiting embodiment of the present invention is asoftware application that organizes real-world group gatherings around atopic of interest. The software application can be delivered to the uservia a web-based graphical user interface. The software application canalso be deployed over a dedicated computer network (e.g., a LAN or aWAN), or via a stand-alone computer system for a particular company,such as an intranet installation, or by some other means. For simplicityand ease of discussion, various illustrative, non-limiting embodimentsof the present invention will be described with reference to anInternet/world wide web-based system, with the understanding thatnetworks or communications systems similar to, but not identical withthe Internet, may of course be used.

On a practical level, the software that enables the computer system toperform the operations described in further detail below may be suppliedon any one of a variety of media. Furthermore, the actual implementationof the approach and operations of the invention are actually statementswritten in a programming language. Such programming language statements,when executed by a computer, cause the computer to act in accordancewith the particular content of the statements. Furthermore, the softwarethat enables a computer system to act in accordance with the inventionmay be provided in any number of forms including, but not limited to,original source code, assembly code, object code, machine language,compressed or encrypted versions of the foregoing, and any and allequivalents.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that ‘media’, or‘computer-readable media’, as used here, may include a diskette, a tape,a compact disc, an integrated circuit, a ROM, a CD, a cartridge, aremote transmission via a communications circuit, or any other similarmedium useable by computers now known or hereafter developed. Forexample, to supply software for enabling a computer system to operate inaccordance with the invention, the supplier might provide a diskette ormight transmit the software in some form via satellite transmission, viaa direct telephone link, or via the Internet. Thus, the term, ‘computerreadable medium’ is intended to include all of the foregoing and anyother medium by which software may be provided to a computer.

Although the enabling software might be ‘written on’ a diskette, ‘storedin’ an integrated circuit, or ‘carried over’ a communications circuit,it will be appreciated that, for the purposes of this application, thecomputer usable medium will be referred to as ‘including’ the software.Thus, the term ‘including’ is intended to encompass the above and allequivalent ways in which software is associated with a computer usablemedium. For the sake of simplicity, therefore, the term ‘programproduct’ is thus used to refer to a computer useable medium, as definedabove, which includes in any form of software to enable a computersystem to operate according to the above-identified invention. Thus, theinvention is also embodied in a program product including softwareinstructions which enable a computer or computers to organize areal-world gathering for a particular topic of Interest according to theinvention.

In this illustrative, non-limiting embodiment, the system allows for anautomated organization of a real-world gathering of two or moreindividuals around a common topic of interest. The gatherings arereal-world, face-to-face meetings that take place in a number of citiesand small towns in various countries around the world. The gatheringscan take place at various venues such as local cafes, restaurants,stores, bar or other establishments.

The following terms are used throughout the specification and aredefined as follows:

Topic: A subject or interest around which members of the system formgroups, e.g., Pug Owners, Spanish Language, Environmental Defense.

Locale: A defined geographical location, even including definitions suchas the area within a radius from a given zip or postal code.

Chapter: This is the intersection of a topic and a locale, e.g., PugOwners, Louisville, Ky. In other words, it is a group of membersorganized locally around a topic of interest.

Gathering: A real-life, face-to-face meeting of a chapter. A gatheringmay be a periodic gathering, such as a monthly gathering, although otherfrequencies can be used. A gathering may be referred to as an in-personmeeting, or a Meetup (Meetup is a trademark of Meetup, Inc.).

Organizer: Member who chooses to start and run a local chapter.

Venue: This is a meeting place, which may be suggested by the system ora member, e.g., a restaurant, a café, a park, a library, a private home,etc.

A system according to this embodiment of the Invention automates theorganization of real-world gatherings around a topic of interest. Avisitor to the system (which may be referred to as a member orparticipant) typically provides his or her location via a zip code,postal code, or city, then searches or browses for a topic of interest,e.g., Spanish Language. The system may return a list of local chaptersthat meet for Spanish Language conversation practice, sorted by distancefrom the user's location. In addition, the visitor can search for atopic of interest without providing a locale. That is to say, the orderof providing locale information and topic of interest information is notcritical in this embodiment.

The topics of interest and the locales may be organized using amultiple-level hierarchy. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a set ofhighest level topics may be defined, and linked to sub-topics in a knownmanner. Activating the link to ‘Language’ in the set of highest leveltopics may result in a display of sub-topics such as shown, for example,in FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 represents an embodiment in which, regardless of the user'slocale, there is defined a date and time certain for the topic. Thus, auser interested in the particular topic of ‘Spanish Language’ can, inthe embodiment shown in FIG. 2, be provided with the worldwide date andtime for the in-person meeting relating to the Spanish language,independent of locale.

Going further with the example, assuming the user has already providedhis locale information by indicating a relevant zip code, city name,latitude/longitude information, or the like, information about the nextmeeting or gathering of the local chapter for the particular topic maybe provided by activating the ‘Spanish Language’ link.

In the situation in which no chapter existed already in the user'slocale, the user could be presented with nearby locales having chaptersfor that particular topic. In one instance of the invention, the systemwill automatically instantiate a chapter when a user searches for atopic and a locale where no chapter currently exists.

Instead of searching through a hierarchy of topics, the system mayprovide a user with the ability to carry out a keyword-based search. Itwill be appreciated that other variations on topic selection arepossible and are within the scope of the invention.

When the user searches for a topic of interest without the locale beingknown by the system, the user may be provided with the topic informationand the information about all the chapters associated with this topic.Once the visitor selects and/or finds a locale and a topic of interest,the visitor has found a chapter (it will be recalled from thedefinitions section, above, that the chapter is an intersection of aparticular topic and a locale).

The visitor may be presented with available information about thechapter, including, without limitation: a number of members in thechapter, member photos and biographies, a chapter creation date, a briefdescription of the chapter, a longer description, a calendar of events,event photos, message boards and so on. In the embodiment in which thereis a chapter organizer, the organizer's identity may be indicated alongwith relevant organizer information.

In addition, a local chapter may also provide information about otherchapters worldwide. This information may include details on nearbychapters, numbers of members worldwide, photos of members worldwide, andlinks to their message boards.

The system may also provide communications tools for members tocommunicate between chapters, e.g., a topic-level message board ‘GeneralSpanish Language Board’ and web logging tools ‘General Spanish LanguageBlog.’ Chapter information may be split up into a number of logicalparts, which can be easily navigated e.g., through the use of tabs.Those familiar with this field will understand that other variations arepossible and are within the scope of the invention.

In this exemplary system, gatherings may be organized for one or moretypes of chapters. One type of chapter is a leaderless chapter,according to a first embodiment of the invention. In a leaderlesschapter, the system operates completely automatically, including fullyautomatic selection of the date and the time for the gathering, and thecandidate venues for the users. That is, a gathering is automaticallyscheduled by the system.

In the first embodiment of the invention, there may be provided a systemadministrator who has a manual override capability to handle specialscheduling problems, but a feature of the first embodiment is that thereis provided a fully automated manner of facilitating in-person,topic-related meetings of persons, by geographic area. For the sake oflinguistic convenience, a chapter according to this first embodiment ofthe invention may be referred to as a leaderless chapter.

According to a second embodiment of the invention, there is providedanother type of chapter, having a person who is denominated as anorganizer. It will be understood that ‘organizer’ is used as a term oflinguistic convenience, and is meant to generally refer to the idea of aperson who is a contact person, and allows for situations in which theorganizer is a group leader, a moderator, a facilitator, a secretary, orany other similar role. It will be understood that the automated systemis performing an important and significant amount of the organizingitself.

A chapter according to this second embodiment of the invention, havingan organizer, may be thought of for the sake of linguistic convenience,as a led chapter.

In a led chapter, local organizers are free to take part in the largerevent, and/or to set their own day and time to meet. In one embodiment,organizers may select from a list of other chapters and topics toaffiliate with. For example, the organizer of a local Christian Athleteschapter is provided by the system the ability to indicate an affiliationwith the local Bible Study chapter as well as with other ChristianAthletes chapters in nearby towns. That is, affiliations can begeographical and/or topical. Such affiliations may be listed on thatorganizer's local chapter home page.

Organizers, according to another embodiment, can allow the system tocreate an automatic voting ballot of two or more candidate venues (i.e.,utilize a predetermined set of venues already in the system), but makechanges prior to releasing the voting ballot for voting. The organizermay add extra venues, or replace venues on the system's voting ballot.Moreover, the organizer may nominate new venues, including private homes(i.e., utilize a set of venues that was not selected from thepredetermined set of venues already in the system).

In another embodiment, the organizer may simply choose a venue for thegathering, thereby overriding the need to vote.

Organizers may be provided with tools for managing their chapter. Theymay use the system to send notifications and messages directly tomembers. They may create polls and ballots to survey members onparticular subjects, for example, choosing activities or agenda items.They may limit or terminate membership in the chapter, and grant memberprivileges such as the ability to choose or nominate a venue, editmessages, edit profile information, and so on.

In general, the system may require a user become a member beforeproviding any specific information about chapters or members. Forexample, the system may require the user to furnish a verifiable emailaddress and a password as a precondition of membership, or otherinformation as well, including a zip code or other geographic localeindicator.

Once a member, a user may be permitted to join a local chapter of anytype. The user may then receive a welcome message and an automated emailnotification of a real-life, face-to-face gathering. In addition, theuser may set his profile for the chapter including nicknames(usernames), personal biographical or other information, personalpictures, email contact options (allowing other members of the chapterto contact them), and other related information. The member may set updifferent profiles for different chapters. In addition, the member mayset up alerts. For example, the member may set up an alert to receive anotification when a new message is posted to the message board.

The members may volunteer to be a host for an upcoming gathering. A hostis different from an organizer, although both functions could of coursebe performed by the same person at a given time. A host is an attendeeof a gathering who helps get the meeting started by helping attendeesfind each other. The host function is important because the people whoattend a meeting may never have met, and because the venue may be largeor noisy, making it difficult for such persons to actually connect witheach other.

A host may perform some simple tasks to facilitate the gathering, suchas printing out a sign and putting it on a tabletop, or bringingnametags and a marker. According to one embodiment of the invention, thesystem includes functions for automatically generating flyers, nametags,and/or table top signs for the chapter. The message on such promotionalmaterials is specific to each chapter. The host just needs to print themout and bring them to the gathering.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the system mayautomatically schedule a worldwide or nationwide repeating gatheringday, such as an ‘International Spanish Language Day.’ According to thisembodiment, the system may schedule the periodic gathering for allchapters of the ‘Spanish Language’ particular topic on the same day, andoptionally at the same time, all over the world. Here, ‘at the sametime’ can mean an identical local time, in which case the chapters indifferent time zones are not meeting contemporaneously. It can also meanan identical time regardless of time zone, such as a standard time forchapters to meet all across the world. In other words, for a giventopic, an identical calendar date and optionally an identical time isused for the automatic scheduling of the in-person gatherings for all ofthe chapters associated with the topic.

According to another embodiment, local chapters may set their own dayand time to meet by carrying out a voting operation facilitated by thesystem or by a chapter organizer setting a day, time and recurrenceusing tools provided by the system.

The advantages of a worldwide or national gathering day are several. Forexample, assume the particular topic ‘Yoga’ has a worldwide gatheringday of the first Saturday of every month at 12 pm. A local Yoga chaptergathering at 12 pm on the first Saturday of the month in Washington D.C.knows that Yoga chapters all over the world are gathering at their ownlocal time. Because of this arrangement, national media can be used toinform the public of such meetings, and national organizations candirect people to the local version of the topic, e.g., the Yoga chapterscan announce that Monday, April 12th is this month's Yoga day. Byproviding a single website URL, for example, interested persons canautomatically be directed to the local chapter nearest them. Likewise,using the system itself, interested persons can select ‘Yoga’ as a topicof interest, and provide their geographic locale Information, and bedirected to the nearest chapter.

Furthermore, the automatic, periodic scheduling of a gathering, whetherworldwide or only local, constitutes a means whereby the system (whichmay have automatically formed a chapter out of a group of strangers)automatically takes the steps necessary to keep the group alive on anongoing basis. The system therefore not only automatically helps groupsemerge, but also helps sustain them.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described withrespect to FIG. 3, in which one example for implementing part of asystem according to the invention will be described.

FIG. 3 shows one way to add new members to chapters. The process beginsat step 100 which assumes that the user has some means for accessing theInternet, such as a personal computer, web-enabled phone, web-enabledtelevision, connected PDA, or other Internet capable appliance. Step 100also assumes that the user's appliance also has some communication meansfor accessing the internet, such as a dial-up service, a wired service,a wireless service, or the like.

In step 110, the user accesses a web site of the system according to theinvention. The user may be provided with a variety of information, suchas the already mentioned capability to search topic by keyword, orhierarchical list, or the like. The user takes advantage of suchcapabilities, and browses through the topics according to his personalinterest in step 120, eventually selecting a topic of interest. Thesystem thus receives a user selection of a topic from the plurality ofpredefined topics.

In step 130, the user is prompted to obtain a membership by providing,for example, a verifiable email address or the like, and informationabout the locale in which the user may be considered normally to exist.The information about the locale may be thought of as a user indicationof a geographic locale. It is possible to grant membership in any of avariety of ways known to those familiar with this field. Once themembership is obtained, processing continues to step 140.

In step 140, a determination is made as to whether a chapter,corresponding to the geographic locale and the topic, exists. If so,processing may continue to step 150 in which the user is added to thechapter that corresponds to the selected topic and the geographic localeto which the user belongs. Another way to put this is to say the usermay be added to a chapter selected on the basis of a topic and a locale.The adding of the user to the chapter as a member may be automatic or inresponse to a user indication. The system provides an indication to theuser of the one chapter that was determined based on the topic and thegeographic locale. The user may also be provided with informationrelating to the respective members of the chapter and the date and timeof the next gathering. The user may take an action to indicate that heor should would like to become a member of the chapter, and to receivenotification of chapter gatherings and activities, or the membershipassignment may automatically be performed.

When no chapter exists, processing continues to step 160 in which a usermay volunteer to create a new chapter as a volunteer organizer(according to the second embodiment of the invention described above)or, wait until a chapter is formed (automatically as in the firstembodiment or otherwise). If the user volunteers to organize a newchapter, this indication is made by the user to the system and may bethought of as an organizer volunteer indication. If the user waits untila chapter is formed, the system may send an automatic notification ofthe chapter's creation to interested persons such as the user.

Processing ends in step 170 in FIG. 3, but it will be appreciated thatthe steps need not be performed necessarily in the order just mentioned,and it will also be appreciated that a member may join a number ofdifferent chapters in the locale depending on the interests of themember.

FIG. 4 shows one manner of implementing part of a system according tothe invention, in which the automatic scheduling of a meeting isperformed. The example shown relates to the embodiment in which chaptersdo not have organizers, but may understood to apply, mutatis mutandis,to the embodiment in which chapters do have organizers.

Processing begins at step 200, and it is assumed that this processingtakes place at an appropriate server, with suitable connections to theInternet. Of course, other hardware configurations could be used asmeets the needs of the particular indications that work that isinvolved. It is also assumed that the system schedules meetings at apoint in time that is in advance of the already-known meeting date.Thus, a database of meeting dates can be periodically consulted, andthose meetings requiring automatic scheduling on any given date caneasily be determined. The processing after step 200 therefore isdescribed with respect to the scheduling of a given gathering ormeeting, or, in other words, with respect to automatically scheduling anin-person gathering for the chapter at one venue of several associatedwith the locale.

To set up a gathering, the candidate venues for the gathering areselected at step 205. The system has a database of venues for publicmeetings, including information on opening hours and suitability forvarious kinds of chapters. The system offers a variety of choices tofacilitate the selection of venues for the gatherings. For example, acrowded bar might not be the proper venue for practicing Spanishlanguage, and a bar of any kind might not be acceptable for a meeting ofa Bible Study chapter. The system automatically selects or rejectscandidate venues for the gathering. In particular, the system evaluatesthe number of members in the chapter, proximity of the venue, andsuitability of the venue for the topic, e.g., outdoor spaces for pets.Some of the suitability criteria can be mathematically calculated (suchas the seating capacity of a particular venue compared to the averagenumber of attendees for the meeting). Some of the suitability criteriacan easily be implemented using appropriate rules (i.e., no topicsinvolving pets in venues that serve food indoors, or, alternatively, alltopics involving pets requiring venues that are outdoors). Other, moresubtle criteria can be implemented with specific rules as appropriate.It may thus be said that the scheduling of the in-person gatheringincludes selecting the venue based on a characteristic of the topicand/or a characteristic of the number of active members in the chapter.

In addition, members may provide inputs to propose candidate venues.Venues may be organized by types. A categorization for venues mayinclude a multi-level hierarchical listing similar to the one describedabove for topics of interest. For example, a particular coffee house maybe categorized as follows: it is under the broad category ‘publicplaces’ and then under the narrower type of ‘coffee shops’.

To propose candidate venues, a member can be provided with a listing ofvenue categories and the member selects the desired venue candidates forthe locale. In addition, a member can simply browse through all venuesin his locale. For any venue of interest, the member may viewinformation about the venue. The information may include, but is notlimited to, venue ratings made by other members, venue locationinformation, directions to the venue and so on.

Venues are then automatically slotted on the ballot and the members areautomatically invited to vote at step 210. Members vote on candidatevenues in step 215, by means of any of the many well-known techniquesfor obtaining votes electronically. When the period for voting ends, thesystem automatically tallies up the votes at step 220. When too fewmembers voted to select the venue, then the gathering may be canceled atstep 225. The voters (the interested members who voted) may be directedto a nearby locale where sufficient number of users expressed interestin a gathering or they can be simply notified that the event iscancelled due to a lack of interest. The members are also free toarrange to meet privately using the message boards. When the analysis instep 220 indicates that enough members voted, the system may optionallywait for additional votes for a predetermined period of time at step230.

When the optional additional voting period ends, the system tallies upthe number of votes for various candidate venues in step 235, informsthe members of the winning venue, and invites the members to make areservation (RSVP) for the gathering. To prevent gatherings growing toolarge for a given venue, the system can also make a determination tosplit the gathering between two or more venues, based on a configurablethreshold of votes, when more than one venue has received a minimumnumber of votes. This kind of determination may be performed using aconfigurable threshold for each venue, allowing the system automaticallyto split up groups exceeding the configuration. This threshold may varyfrom topic to topic, and chapter to chapter, depending on the needs ofthe topic and organizers, if any. The threshold may be thought of as avenue attendance threshold, and this threshold may be based on acharacteristic of the topic and, in a led chapter, may be set by theorganizer.

For example, for a political campaign topic, a gathering will may be setto occur for any venue on the ballot that receives at least 25 votes. Insuch a case, the system may automatically notify members that that morethan one venue has been chosen, and request that the RSVP be made insuch a manner as to indicate a chosen venue (which can be different thanthe one they voted for). This allows a group in a given locale to splitinto sub-groups that a) are sized appropriately so that a single venuedoes not become uncomfortably crowded, and b) allow users to meet at themost convenient venue for them, when a given locale has enough membersto support multiple gatherings. To put it another way, when the numberof votes from the chapter members planning to attend the gatheringexceeds a venue attendance threshold, more than one venue for thegathering is automatically selected and the members are notified.

When the RSVP period ends, the system tallies up the number of membersgiving an affirmative RSVP (RSVPers) to determine if enough people arecoming, at step 240. An affirmative RSVP may be thought of as anindication that a chapter member is planning to attend the in-persongathering, or as an attendance plan indication from the member. Whenless than a predetermined minimum number of members RSVPed in theaffirmative, i.e., not enough members plan to attend the gathering, thegathering may be canceled at step 225. The attendance threshold may bedetermined on various bases, such as an minimum number of e.g. 5 for allgatherings, or may be determined based on a characteristic of the topic,such as 10 for basketball or 4 for bridge.

When the gathering is canceled, the RSVPers may be notified of thecancellation, for example, by email. In addition, the system may providethese RSVPers with a list of other chapters where sufficient interestfor the topic was expressed.

As an alternative to canceling the meeting when the number of RSVPs isbelow the threshold, a special variant of a pre-event reminder mail maybe sent, alerting users that turnout may be small so that they can makeextra efforts to confirm attendance using message boards provided by theservice.

On the other hand, if enough members RSVPed, the gathering takes placeat the elected venue and the members who plan to attend areautomatically reminded of the gathering, at step 245. One or morereminders may include the winning venue, directions to the winningvenue, time and date for the gathering. Moreover, the reminders mayinclude specific aspects of the particular topic to be discussed and soon. Reminders may be sent to only those who RSVPed, or to all chaptermembers.

After the gathering takes place, the system polls the RSVPers forquantitative and/or qualitative feedback (which includes any suggestionsfor the next gathering, suitability of the venue, whether the RSVPerattended the gathering, an estimate of the number of people who attendedand so on), at step 250. When the user completes the poll, the systemautomatically sends a thank you message. An end to the process is shownat step 260 for the sake of a clear explanation, and at this step thesystem also archives the past gathering. The nature of the periodicgatherings, however, dictates that the process recur, and at a suitabletime the processing begins again with step 200 for organizing the nextgathering.

The messages mentioned above, including requests for RSVP, reminders,and requests for feedback may include appropriate advertising material,such as coupons for discounts at the selected venue or the like.

In a led chapter, the organizer can allow the system to organize theevent, and then the process is as illustrated in FIG. 4. Organizers,however, may manually override a number of the above described steps.Organizers provide additional flexibility in organizing the gathering.As already mentioned, the organizer can add extra venues or replacevenues on the system's voting ballot. The organizer can nominate newvenues, including private homes. The organizer may simply choose a venuefor the gathering, thereby overriding the need to vote. In addition, theorganizer may select a different venue for gathering after the systemtallies up the number of votes. The organizer can also cancel thegathering when there are too few members or for some other reasons. Theorganizer may set a threshold number of votes below which the gatheringis automatically cancelled due to lack of interest and so on. Inaddition, the organizer may request the members to pre-vote on candidatevenues to narrow the list of candidate venues. Moreover, the organizermay send members warning messages that too few members voted or RSVPedfor the event, inviting other members to vote or to make an RSVP.

A determination may be made as to whether a chapter for the topic ofinterest exists in a locale convenient for the user. Such adetermination may be performed in a variety of ways, including acalculation showing whether the chapter is within a predetermined radiussuch as one hundred miles, or a calculation utilizing latitude/longituderelated information. When the chapter for the topic of interest does notexist in a locale convenient for the user, the user may automatically beinvited a) to join a chapter for this topic of interest at a distantlocale that is closest to the locale of the user, b) start his ownchapter as an organizer, c) presented with a list of nearby chapters inrelated topics, selection of which is automatically calculated based oncross-membership information (e.g., ‘Members who signed up for SpanishLanguage chapters also signed up for Spanish Expat chapters’) or d) addhis name to a waiting list users who want to be informed when otherchapters start nearby. The system can automatically detect when apredetermined number of users have indicated interest in a topic withina locale, and automatically determine to start a new chapter,electronically notifying the interested persons of the establishment ofthe chapter, and automatically schedule a first meeting.

In the illustrative, non-limiting embodiments mentioned above,gatherings are facilitated by allowing internet users all over the worldto search for a topic of interest and find a real-world, local groupthat meets on that topic nearby. In addition, these exemplary systemsallow users to form local groups around a common interest, and associatethose local interest groups with similar groups around the world.

The above and other features of the invention including various novelmethod steps and a system of the various modules have been particularlydescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out inthe claims. It will be understood that the particular process andconstruction of parts embodying the invention is shown by way ofillustration only and not as a limitation of the invention. Theprinciples and features of this invention may be employed in varied andnumerous embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for organizingmeeting groups or events over a network, comprising: identifying alocation associated with a user, wherein the location associated withthe user is identified based on at least one of the following: an inputof the user, an actual location of the user, an actual location of amobile device used by the user, or any combination thereof; promptingthe user, through a graphical user interface, to input a topic ofinterest; receiving the topic of interest from the user; searching, withat least one processor, a database of in-person meeting groups or eventsto determine if the database includes at least one meeting group orevent corresponding to the topic of interest and within a specifieddistance of the location; automatically determining that the databasedoes not include at least one meeting group or event corresponding tothe topic of interest and within the specified distance of the location;in response to determining that the database does not include the atleast one meeting group or event corresponding to the topic of interestand within the specified distance of the location, automaticallydisplaying, to the user through a graphical user interface, an option tostart a meeting group or event corresponding to the topic of interestand the location; in response to determining that the database does notinclude at least one meeting group or event corresponding to the topicof interest and within the specified distance of the location,displaying at least one meeting group or event corresponding to thetopic of interest that is outside the specified distance; in response todetermining that the database does not include at least one meetinggroup or event corresponding to the topic of interest and within thespecified distance of the location, automatically displaying, to theuser through a graphical user interface, an option to be notified when ameeting group or event corresponding to the topic of interest and thelocation is created; and transmitting, with at least one processor, anotification to the user when the meeting group or event correspondingto the topic of interest and the location is created.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the option to start ameeting group and the option to be notified are displayed on the samegraphical user interface.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the specified distance is determined based at least partially onat least one of the following: a region that the location is in, a townthat the location is in, a predetermined radius from the location, apredetermined radius from a region or town that the location is in, adifference in latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates, or anycombination thereof.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the option to start a meeting group or event comprises at leastone of the following: a button, an icon, a hyperlink, a menu, or anycombination thereof, and wherein the option, when selected, causes afurther graphical user interface to be displayed, the further graphicaluser interface programmed to receive user input and to create a meetinggroup or event based on the user input.
 5. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, further comprising: in response to determining thatthe database does not include at least one meeting group or eventcorresponding to the topic of interest and within the specified distanceof the location, displaying at least one meeting group or eventcorresponding to at least one topic related to the topic of interestthat is within the specified distance.
 6. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 5, wherein the at least one topic related to the topicof interest is automatically selected based at least partially oncross-membership information of other users.
 7. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 6, wherein the at least one topic related to the topicof interest is automatically selected by: identifying at least one otheruser that signed up for a meeting group or event corresponding to thetopic of interest in another location; and identifying at least oneother meeting group or event that the at least one other user signed upfor, wherein a topic corresponding to the at least one other meetinggroup is determined to be the at least one topic related to the topic ofinterest.
 8. A system for organizing meeting groups or events over anetwork, comprising: (a) at least one data storage device comprisingdata representing a plurality of meeting groups or events, each meetinggroup or event of the plurality of meeting groups or eventscorresponding to a location and at least one topic; (b) at least oneserver computer comprising at least one processor and in communicationwith the at least one data storage device, the at least one servercomputer programmed to: (i) prompt a user, through a graphical userinterface, to input a topic of interest, wherein the user is associatedwith a location, and wherein the location associated with the user isidentified based on at least one of the following: an input of the user,an actual location of the user, an actual location of a mobile deviceused by the user, or any combination thereof; (ii) determine if at leastone meeting group or event of the plurality of meeting groups or eventsstored in the at least one data storage device corresponds to the topicof interest and is within a specified distance from the locationassociated with the user; (iii) determine that the plurality of meetinggroups or events does not include at least one meeting group or eventcorresponding to the topic of interest that is within the specifieddistance from the location associated with the user; (iv) display atleast one meeting group or event corresponding to the topic of interestthat is outside the specified distance in response to determining thatthe plurality of meeting groups or events does not include at least onemeeting group or event corresponding to the topic of interest that iswithin the specified distance from the location associated with theuser; (v) in response to determining that the plurality of meetinggroups or events does not include at least one meeting group or eventcorresponding to the topic of interest that is within the specifieddistance from the location associated with the user, automaticallydisplay a selectable option to be notified when a meeting group or eventcorresponding to the topic of interest and within the specified distancefrom the location is created by another user; (vi) in response to theuser selecting the selectable option to be notified, automatically addthe user to a list corresponding to the topic of interest and thelocation, or automatically display a further graphical user interfaceprogrammed to facilitate the user to be added to the list; and (vii)transmit a notification to the user when a meeting group or event iscreated that corresponds to the topic of interest and is within aspecified distance from the location.
 9. The system of claim 8, whereinthe at least one server computer is further programmed to: in responseto determining that the plurality of meeting groups or events does notinclude at least one meeting group or event corresponding to the topicof interest that is within the specified distance from the locationassociated with the user, display a selectable option to start a meetinggroup or event corresponding to the topic of interest and the locationto the user through a graphical user interface; and in response to theuser selecting the selectable option to start a meeting group or event,display a further graphical user interface programmed to facilitate theuser to create a meeting group or event.
 10. The system of claim 8,wherein the at least one server computer is further programmed to:identify at least one meeting group or event corresponding to at leastone topic related to the topic of interest that is within the specifieddistance; and display the at least one meeting group or eventcorresponding to the at least one topic related to the topic ofinterest.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one topicrelated to the topic of interest is identified based at least partiallyon cross-membership information of other users.
 12. The system of claim11, wherein the at least one topic related to the topic of interest isidentified by: identifying at least one other user that signed up for ameeting group or event corresponding to the topic of interest in anotherlocation; identifying at least one other meeting group or event that theat least one other user signed up for, wherein a topic corresponding tothe at least one other meeting group is determined to be the at leastone topic related to the topic of interest.
 13. The system of claim 8,wherein the at least one server computer is further programmed to: inresponse to determining that the plurality of meeting groups or eventsdoes include at least one meeting group or event corresponding to thetopic of interest that is within the specified distance from thelocation associated with the user, display a selectable option to: jointhe at least one meeting group or event, RSVP to the at least onemeeting group or event, receive notifications for the at least onemeeting group or event, or any combination thereof.
 14. A computerprogram product for organizing meeting groups or events over a network,the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitorycomputer-readable medium including program instructions that, whenexecuted by at least one processor of at least one computer, cause theat least one computer to: identify a location associated with a user,wherein the location associated with the user is identified based on atleast one of the following: an input of the user, an actual location ofthe user, an actual location of a mobile device used by the user, or anycombination thereof; receive, from the user, a topic of interest; searcha database of meeting groups or events based at least partially on thelocation associated with the user and the topic of interest; determine,based at least partially on the search, if the database includes atleast one meeting group or event within a specified distance of thelocation and corresponding to the topic of interest; determine that thedatabase does not include the at least one meeting group or eventcorresponding to the topic of interest and within the specified distanceof the location; if the database does include the at least one meetinggroup or event within the specified distance of the location andcorresponding to the topic of interest, automatically display the atleast one meeting group or event to the user; and if the database doesnot include the at least one meeting group or event within the specifieddistance of the location and corresponding to the topic of interest,automatically generate a graphical user interface comprising at leasttwo of the following: a selectable option to start a meeting group orevent corresponding to the location and the topic of interest, aselectable option to be notified when a meeting group or eventcorresponding to the topic of interest and within a specified distanceof the location is created, a meeting group or event corresponding to atleast one topic related to the topic of interest that is within thespecified distance, a meeting group or event corresponding to the topicof interest that is outside the specified distance, or any combinationthereof.
 15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein thegraphical user interface comprises the selectable option to start ameeting group or event corresponding to the location and the topic ofinterest, and wherein the selectable option to start a meeting group orevent, when selected, causes a further graphical user interface to begenerated that facilitates the user to create a meeting group or event.16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the graphical userinterface comprises the selectable option to be notified, wherein theselectable option to be notified, when selected, causes the user to beadded to a notification list corresponding to the topic, and wherein theprogram instructions, when executed by the at least one processor of theat least one computer, further cause the at least one computer totransmit a notification to the user when a meeting group or eventcorresponding to the topic and within the specified distance is created.17. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the graphical userinterface comprises the meeting group or event corresponding to at leastone topic related to the topic of interest that is within the specifieddistance, and wherein the at least one topic related to the topic ofinterest is automatically selected based at least partially oncross-membership information of other users.
 18. The computer programproduct of claim 17, wherein the program instructions, when executed byat least one processor of at least one computer system, further causethe at least one computer system to: identify at least one other userthat signed up for a meeting group or event corresponding to the topicof interest in another location; and identify at least one other meetinggroup or event that the at least one other user signed up for, wherein atopic corresponding to the at least one other meeting group isdetermined to be the at least one topic related to the topic ofinterest.
 19. A computer-implemented method for organizing meetinggroups and/or events over a network, comprising: (a) receiving a topicof interest from a user over the network, the user associated with alocation, wherein the location associated with the user is identifiedbased on at least one of the following: an input of the user, an actuallocation of the user, an actual location of a mobile device used by theuser, or any combination thereof; (b) searching a database of meetinggroups and/or events for at least one meeting group and/or event thatcorresponds to the topic of interest and is proximate to the locationassociated within the user; (c) determining that the database does notinclude a meeting group and/or event that is proximate to the locationand corresponds to the topic of interest; (d) after determining that thedatabase does not include a meeting group and/or event that is proximateto the location and corresponds to the topic of interest, automaticallygenerating a graphical user interface comprising at least two of thefollowing: (i) a selectable option to start a meeting group and/or eventcorresponding to the location and the topic of interest, wherein theselectable option, when selected, causes a further graphical userinterface to be displayed, the further graphical user interfaceprogrammed to receive user input and to create a meeting group or eventbased on the user input; (ii) a selectable option to be notified when ameeting group or event corresponding to the topic of interest and withina specified distance of the location is created, wherein the selectableoption to be notified, when selected, causes the user to be added to anotification list corresponding to the topic of interest and thelocation; (iii) a meeting group or event corresponding to at least onetopic related to the topic of interest that is within the specifieddistance; (iv) a meeting group or event corresponding to the topic ofinterest that is outside the specified distance; or (v) any combinationthereof.
 20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, furthercomprising: determining if the user has previously started or created agroup or event, wherein the graphical user interface comprises theselectable option to start a meeting group and/or event corresponding tothe location and the topic of interest only if it is determined that theuser has not previously started or created a group or event.